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Science

A new website of School of Science provides information about teaching and learning, research and civic engagement for an array of audiences, with particular emphasis on future and current students.

The best accomplishments for the school are represented by the successes of our students, faculty and staff as highlighted below.

Teaching and Learning

  1. Articulation agreements for curricula in biology, chemistry, mathematics and psychology were finalized between Ivy Tech State College and IUPUI. Faculty and administrators at both institutions have agreed to collaborate closely to ensure a smooth transition from the associate degree at Ivy Tech to the baccalaureate degree in Science at IUPUI. Faculty collaborated on national grant proposals to facilitate these activities, particularly with underrepresented minority students.
  2. The school awarded the first Bachelor of Science degrees in Forensic and Investigative Sciences (the first such degree in Indiana) and Biotechnology.
  3. The number of undergraduate degrees awarded in 2006-07 increased by 24%. This was the second consecutive year that degrees conferred increased by more than 20%. The school expects to award more than 300 AS, BA and BS degrees for December 2006, May 2007 and August 2007 graduations.  The number of credit hours taught in science increased by 1.4% for a total of 135,286.
  4. The School conferred 112 MS and PhD degrees in May 2007; this represents a 45% increase over May 2006, the second consecutive year of growth over 40%. Including anticipated August graduates, the school will confer 175 graduate degrees during the 2006-2007 academic year, a 38% increase over 2005-06.
  5. The Department of Computer & Information Science launched five new graduate certificates in Biocomputing, Biometrics, Computer Security, Databases & Data Mining and Software Engineering. The graduate certificates will serve a great need in central Indiana, allowing those in the IT field to update their skills and to prepare for advancement.
  6. The school collaborated with the School of Education to create the Urban Center for the Advancement of Science/Mathematics Education (UCASE).  This is an interdisciplinary center with the goal of creating and strengthening partnerships among university and K-12 educators, museums, civic groups and other informal learning institutions.
  7. Twenty-six science and mathematics students were named among the Top 100 IUPUI Students, including four students named as Top 10 Males.

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

  1. School of Science faculty wrote competitive proposals and received four new signature center grants of 19 total awards at IUPUI. The centers housed in the school are: the  Center for Earth & Environmental Science, Center for Mathematical Biosciences, Center for Regenerative Biology & Medicine and Center for Biocomputing. School of Science faculty participate in three additional signature centers: the Renewable Energy Center, Service Learning Research Collaborative and Center for Assessing, Understanding and Managing Pain. 
  2. Two signature center research groups (Mathematical Biosciences and Biocomputing) moved into new research space in the Health Information and Translational Sciences Building to facilitate collaboration with School of Medicine researchers.
  3. Biology Professor David Stocum and the research faculty in the Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine received a $1.6M grant from the Keck Foundation to study the fundamental questions about the mechanisms of regeneration in amphibians.


Civic Engagement

  1. The School of Science facilitated and hosted the inaugural Project Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences program. The two-week workshop trains teachers to deliver a problem-based science curriculum that prepares high school students for the rigor of university biomedical sciences training. Teachers received more than 80 hours of core laboratory training. The program will return annually each summer to IUPUI.
  2. The Center for Earth and Environmental Science launched its “Discovering the Science of the Environment (DSE)” educational program with a teacher-training workshop at Eagle Creek State Park. DSE incorporates water quality studies, woodland investigation, wetland exploration and prairie research to provide hands-on environmental field experiences to students in grades 4-9. Thirty central Indiana teachers participated in the workshop; they received environmental training and curriculum materials that are tied to Indiana state standards in science and math. Teachers will be able to use parks and school ground natural areas for ongoing science learning.
  3. Chancellor’s Professor and Professor of Psychology Bob Bringle, as director of the IUPUI Center for Service and Learning, was featured prominently in the 2006 Presidential Award for exceptional accomplishments in community service and in the “Saviors of our Cities” award for civic engagement.

Diversity

  1. A School of Science formed a Diversity Council. The faculty, student and staff committee members completed a diversity plan for the school.
  1. Hermioni Lokko, a BS graduate in biology, presented remarks from the Class of 2007 during the school’s commencement exercises. She offered perspective as an international student from Ghana who came to IUPUI for her undergraduate education. Hermioni received many academic awards at IUPUI and received a full scholarship attend Harvard University, where she is enrolled in the MD/MBA program.

Best Practices

  1. The school initiated a strategic planning process in which teams of faculty, staff and administrators worked to identify the school’s strengths and weakness and to update the school’s mission and vision for the future. Three teams reviewed issues related to research and graduate education, undergraduate education and administration. 

External Awards and Appointments

    • Some of the area’s leading corporations and foundations agree that science outreach to the next generation is key to development a workforce that will keep Indiana competitive in the life sciences economy. The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Dow AgroSciences, Eli Lilly and Company, the Duke Energey Foundation and Veolia Water Indianapolis, LLS, who lead gift totals $200,000, committed more than $400,000 to support the Discovering the Science of the Environment program housed in the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES).  
    • Chemistry Professor Martin J. O’Donnell was named a Chancellor’s Professor. O’Donnell becomes the third chemistry faculty to receive the honor and the sixth in the School of Science.
    • Chancellor’s Professor David Malik, professor of chemistry and chemical biology, received the Outstanding Service Award from the American Chemical Society Indiana Section.
    • Psychology Professor Drew Appleby received the Alvin S. Bynum Award for Excellence in Academic Mentoring. He becomes the third School of Science faculty member to receive the award and one of 17 at IUPUI.
    • The Department of Computer and Information Science was a key partner in achieving the National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and Education presented to Indiana University by the National Security Agency.